What will take the place of the federal Department of Education?

The collective effort to reduce the breadth of federal bureaucracy and cut trillions of dollars in spending is enough to make anyone gasp. The sheer volume and rapidity of the cuts are historic, though dismantling federal agencies isn’t inherently good or bad. The determining factor of success of throttling the Department of Education will be whether American schoolchildren get a better education.

The department’s core duties put it on the Trump administration’s endangered species list: Give money to help teach disadvantaged and disabled students, fund research, and enforce civil rights in schools. That’s basically a three-strikes rule in the administration’s eyes. The department also oversees about $1.6 trillion in student loans. 

As the department groans its death rattle, what now?

The Trump administration said core functions of the department won’t be ended, just reassigned to other federal agencies. The lack of specifics does not engender confidence. What's needed are clear, precise and actionable plans for the department’s primary functions. Policy proposals in 140 characters or less that amount to little more than doggerel won’t cut it. Will abolishing the federal Department of Education improve America’s ranking in quality of education worldwide? 

America’s educational system is already fractured: rich vs. poor; religious vs. traditional; white vs. minority; successful vs. underperforming. Some states consistently rank in the bottom 10. One could argue that those states are evidence of the ineffectiveness of the department's guidance, and that it's unlikely that these traditionally underperforming states will suddenly become beacons of learning now that the shackles of federal oversight are gone.

Meanwhile, New York State must consider contingencies and unexpected consequences of this new lack of federal oversight. How will the state cover a shortfall in federal education dollars? What role will the state take in protecting the civil rights of students? How will New York ensure a quality education for all students? The state is one of 21 suing to stop the move, in part, so federal money isn't scratched back. In a court filing last week, reported in Chalkbeat, New York argued it can't access $363 million in reimbursements because of turmoil in the department. That, despite assurances money, wouldn't be cut.

Once the dust has settled from the demolished department, and its core functions are assimilated efficiently into other agencies, the goals of America’s public education system should be to improve: literacy, graduation requirements, postgraduation opportunities in addition to college, equity, school meals, and teacher training and retention.

America’s education system existed and thrived in some ways before the creation of the modern Department of Education in 1979. That’s not reason enough to bury an agency that did real good for America’s children, and certainly not a reason to completely do away with Title I funding, civil rights in schools, and college grants. Those essential duties must not be allowed to perish in a dark room of some obscure federal agency.